Swap
by anacsadder
Summary: Thievery always has a price, but why is Ryou the one that has to pay it?
1. Chapter 1

Ryou loved his morning walks. The sky was a cool shade of pink, the birds were just starting to chirp, and the traffic had yet to reach the smothering roar of morning rush hour. Existing and enjoying being in his own skin was a treasured treat. Taking in and remembering every bit of scenery between his apartment and the campus was a dream, and he delighted in recognizing each landmark. Only three years ago his life had been a montage of strange people and places. Not anymore.

The strap of his messenger bag dug suddenly and firmly into his chest. He barely managed to remain upright as he halted mid-step.

"Found you, thief," a voice hissed behind him.

"Oh!" Getting in trouble for things he couldn't remember was another familiar experience he'd tried to put behind him. It took him a moment to collect his thoughts. _Had_ he done something? It had to be a mistake. "I'm terribly sorry, but I believe you have me confused with-" he finished turning to look over his shoulder and his throat locked up. "...someone... else..."

The red sun back-lit the explosion of blond hair that surrounded the face scowling down at him. The frown deepened as confusion wrested control from anger. Then, as recognition dawned, the overall expression softened ever so slightly. "You're the other one, aren't you?" The dark being that used to be part of Marik tilted its head. "You're taller than you used to be."

Ryou shrugged. He had no idea what to say. He was only vaguely acquainted with the idea of Marik's darkness. All he knew was that he didn't want to upset it.

The dark being wrapped its fist in the strap of Ryou's shoulder bag and yanked him even closer. Pupiless eyes searched Ryou's intently. "What are you, hiding behind your host? You have three seconds to come out. If you don't, something very bad will happen to him."

"Hang on, hang on," Ryou forced himself to speak. His voice was high and strangled, but the dark being seemed willing to listen. "Bakura... the other Bakura... he isn't here."

The taller being scowled incredulously and started to speak.

"I'm not even wearing the ring, see?" Ryou explained desperately, patting down his chest for emphasis. "It's back in Egypt. The ring spirit is gone." The thing in front of him should have been gone, too, but Ryou was too busy negotiating for his life to dwell on that. "That was three years ago. That's why I'm taller."

"Liar," the thing growled. "You will tell me where the thief is."

"I really don't know," Ryou all but pleaded. He wondered if he could duck out of the bag strap before the mad spirit stopped him. "If he did something to you... I don't know."

The face melted into a contemplative frown. "Where's Marik?"

Probably just rolling out of bed in one of the dorm rooms, but Ryou was sure he shouldn't tell Marik's old demon that. Beyond _that_ , if said demon didn't know where Marik was, and had also recently crossed paths with 'Bakura,' then what the hell was going on? "I'm not sure," Ryou swallowed. The blanker, more neutral expression he received as a response emboldened him enough to ask, "Are you- are you saying you've seen Bakura?"

Anger inflamed the violet irises. "He stole my little thing."

Little thing? Marik? Was Marik all right? Ryou had talked to him in class yesterday. He'd seemed happy.

"Greedy bastard thinks he gets to have _two_ little things. Ha! I should-" The fire fizzled as swiftly as it had flared up. The wild eyes widened as an excited grin replaced the snarl. "I should take his little thing."

Ryou didn't waste a beat. He ducked free of the messenger bag and was poised to run when a solid kick swept his legs out from under him. He pushed himself up, but a foot slammed down on his back, pinning him.

"Don't do that," the dark being said as it slung the bag over its shoulder. The voice was hollow, neither angry nor cajoling. The hollowness sounded more threatening than any emotion the being could've mustered. "You are my little thing now." Stated matter-of-factly.

Before Ryou could figure out how to respond, he was on his feet with the dark being's hand twisted firmly in the back of his shirt. He wanted to know what was going on with the ring spirit, but Marik's rage construct seemed appeased for now and he didn't want to make it fly off the handle again. As it walked him off toward who-knows-where, Ryou finally tried, "I didn't know you were in town."

It didn't answer, but the statement didn't seem to bother it.

Hoping it might respond to a question, Ryou asked, "How long have you been here?"

After a pause it said, "Several days," though it didn't seem too sure of the answer.

Ryou chose his words carefully. "How did you... get back from... where you were?"

The dark being spoke slowly. "It was dark, and then I heard voices. I heard Marik. I followed his brightness." The fist in Ryou's shirt clenched and the voice dropped to a low growl. "But someone _else_ got there _first_. That light was for _me,_ not _him._ "

Ryou's chest tightened. He could almost feel the rage roiling off the thing behind him. Like heat waves. Rage waves.

"I almost couldn't punch through," the dark being continued. "But I was so _pissed off_. I was going to find him and _make_ him give my little thing back."

Ryou felt eyes on him and glanced up. The mad spirit was smiling at him.

"But maybe a trade would be okay. You're not such a bad little thing."

They were approaching a panel van. Ryou balked at the sight of it, so the dark being hooked its arms under the young man's armpits and started dragging. "H-hang on a minute..."

"Don't run," it hissed. "You're my little thing now."

"I'm not disputing that," Ryou explained quickly. He wanted to dispute that, but it would have to wait. "We can talk for a minute, though, right?"

"You talk a lot," it said, but it paused near the back of the van as though waiting.

"Where are we going?" Ryou tried to keep his voice level. The strength with which the dark being gripped his arms could easily break something.

"The place where I will keep you," it answered impatiently.

"Okay," Ryou answered carefully. "What if, and this is just a suggestion," he added quickly when he felt the grip tighten. "I have a lovely flat not too far from here. There's only one bedroom, but I have a sofa bed. What if we go there instead? Both of us. Together." He watched the mad spirit absorb his suggestion. There was confusion at first, and then contemplation, but ultimately the features settled on a stubborn scowl.

"No," it said. "My place is better." It opened the door, forced Ryou into the van, and climbed up his back to sit on his legs.

Ryou's eyes widened as the tanned hands reached for a roll of duct tape and a box cutter. "I promise I won't fight you," he insisted.

The being cackled. "I'm not stupid, little thing. You have been fighting me the whole way here." It forced the pale wrists together behind Ryou's back and wrapped them in a thick cocoon of tape. Then it sliced off a smaller length of tape and slapped it across Ryou's mouth.

Ryou bucked and kicked at the thing holding him down. The weight settled onto him harder, grinding his body into the metal floor.

"Don't do that," it hissed. The box cutter bit into the flesh near the base of the pale back. "All I have to do is shove something sharp between these two vertebrae. Or maybe take a swipe at the backs of your ankles."

Ryou cringed and whimpered, but he stopped squirming. The weight lifted very slowly. Then the dark being turned sideways to sit on his back while it taped up his ankles.

"There we go." It smiled and ruffled Ryou's hair. "All packed for transport. Only..." A frown creased its face. It yanked on the back of Ryou's shirt and slashed at it with the box cutter.

The boy yelped more out of surprise than pain. A strip of fabric settle across his eyes and pulled tight around his head. Then the weight lifted entirely and he heard the back door slam. The driver's door opened and closed. The engine rumbled and they started moving.

Ryou tested the range of motion in his arms very slowly and very carefully. Hopefully the rage construct was too busy to notice. There didn't seem to be much he could do, however. The bonds were secure. He worked himself into a kneeling position and leaned against the side of the van. His ears strained for a clue that would indicate the direction they traveled. He tried to keep track of the minutes in his head, but as they started stretching into hours it became too difficult. At least counting kept him from panicking.

Hours later the van stopped and he heard doors again. Rough fingers grabbed his hips and dragged him out into sunlight. It slung him over a muscular shoulder and started walking. The ground crunched like... pebbles, or maybe sand. Then he heard another door and the change in light told him they must be inside. They walked a bit more and the steps took on a jerky, halting quality. Climbing stairs? Turn, more stairs. Maybe six flights in all. More footsteps, but the place echoed now. His captor placed him on a hard floor and he heard a metallic rattle like a manual garage door sliding up. Then it dragged him across the floor and propped him up against a wall.

When the blindfold lifted, Ryou found himself sitting in an empty storage unit. The place was dark except for a few pale splashes of sun from a distant window and the subtle gleam of the dark being's eyes. Ryou trembled as he stared up at it. He couldn't help himself. What did it want? Was it just going to keep him here, or was it planning on really hurting him now that it had him alone? It knelt down and peered into his face.

"Didn't I tell you this was a much better place?" It smiled. "No one to interrupt us. No thieving bastards to snatch you away. It won't matter if you start screaming. Just me and my little thing."

Hands grabbed and squeezed the sides of Ryou's head. Not hard, but Ryou still cried out against the gag. The mad spirit pouted and tilted its head. Then one hand left the side of Ryou's face and ripped the tape from his mouth in one, deft movement. Ryou flinched and groaned. "Why," he started. His lips were sticky. "Why would I scream?"

It shrugged. "Marik screamed sometimes. I'm sure the thought has crossed your mind." It chuckled and grinned the way someone might grin at a puppy. The hand that still touched Ryou's face slid down and grabbed his chin, shaking it playfully. "You little things are so skittish."

Ryou shrank away from the dark being's grip. It let him go, but its expression didn't change. "Are you going to..." he didn't finish the thought. He didn't want to put any ideas in that mad head. The tremor in his voice said all he needed to though.

The dark being looked surprised and then pained. "No, no, no, no, no, little thing," it cooed as it took hold of his head again. It tilted Ryou's face forward until their foreheads touched. "We're going to have fun together. Of course I'll untie you, once you're settled in. And if you're _really_ good and promise to stay right next to me, I might even let you out of the box sometimes. For walks. And playing."

A long fingernail trailed down the bridge and off the tip of Ryou's nose. Then the mad spirit stood up and walked into the aisle where it had left Ryou's school bag. It placed the bag on the ground in front of Ryou and sat down on the other side. It crossed its legs and stared into the distance, pulling at its lower lip. It seemed to be thinking about what to do next. So was Ryou. This thing was unhinged if it thought it was going to keep him in a cage like a pet. He wouldn't get anywhere from his current position, but maybe he could play along long enough to convince it to untie him. He didn't want to play along long enough to find out what it meant by 'fun,' though.

A gurgling rumble broke the silence. Ryou winced instinctively when the pupiless eyes focused on him. "Sorry," he murmured. "I must have missed lunch."

"Is my little thing hungry?" The light in the eyes brightened. "Of course you are. Then I will feed you." It stood up and ruffled the white hair. "Don't do anything upsetting while I'm gone."

The sliding door clanged shut. Shrouded in a thick darkness, Ryou listened as the footsteps faded into the distance. Several minutes passed before he decided his kidnapper would be gone for a while. He extended his legs until the toes of his sneakers brushed his messenger bag. Once he had his orientation he shifted around until he could get his hands into the outer pocket where he kept his phone. For once he was glad that he was too poor to own a smart phone. His thumb brushed lightly over the buttons as he tried to visualize them in his head. With careful precision, he punched in Marik's phone number and pressed 'send.'

He set the phone on the floor and leaned over it as it rang. Marik didn't answer until the fifth ring.

"Hey, what's up? You weren't in class today."

"Marik," Ryou whispered. For a moment he was so happy to hear his classmate's voice that he wasn't sure what to say. "I need help. I'm in a lot of trouble."

When the Egyptian boy spoke again, all of the casual joy had drained from his voice. "What's wrong?"

"Your, what do you call it," Ryou fumbled. "That thing from Battle City... It abducted me."

"What?" The young man sounded shocked. There was a moment where he conferred heatedly with someone in the background, but Ryou couldn't make out what they were saying. "Where are you?" Marik asked.

"I don't know." Ryou's breath hitched. "I mean, it's a big storage facility, but I don't know where. I was blindfolded in the back of a van for at least three hours. It kept babbling about you and the Ring spirit and how it wanted to trade." There was silence on the other end. "Marik? Marik, please, say something..."

"I'm gonna find you," Marik said. "It might take a while, so there are a couple things you need to do."

"I'm listening," Ryou said nervously.

"You're still using that old dumb-phone, right?"

Ryou smiled a little in spite of himself. "Yes."

"When we're done talking, take out the battery and hide it somewhere. He won't take your phone away if he thinks it's dead. The other thing," Marik sighed, "you're not gonna like."

"What?" Ryou asked nervously.

"He might have moments where he seems calm, reasonable, or even almost nice, but you _cannot_ trust any of his promises. He's completely unreasonable and there's nothing you can do about it. Don't beat yourself up trying to make him happy."

Ryou didn't know what to say to that.

"I know it doesn't sound helpful now, but for your own sanity try to keep that in mind, okay? Hopefully I'll find you quickly enough that it won't matter."

At length Ryou answered with a soft, "Okay."

"Good," Marik smiled. "It'll be okay, Ryou. We're gonna start looking for you right now."

Ryou stared at the little square of light in the darkness. He didn't want to let Marik go. Having another voice here in the dark with him felt so good. But he had to hang up. Before the rage construct came back. "Okay," he repeated. "I'll call you if I get another chance. Bye."

"Bye." Marik hung up the phone.

Ryou spent the next ten minutes fumbling the battery out of his phone and hiding it in his shoe. He managed to get the dead phone into the bag and shimmy back into place well before he heard the footsteps approaching.

The door slid up with a thundering crash that made Ryou cringe. Towering over him in the half-light his abductor looked like a piece of shadow that had gained sentience. It shoved the school bag aside with a foot and knelt in front of Ryou. It spread the contents of its hands across the floor between them. A candy bar, two packets of crisps, and a can of something Ryou couldn't see in the dark. The dark being sat back and rested its hands on its thighs. It watched him with half-lidded eyes for a moment. Then the eyes widened slightly and it opened one of the bags. Two fingers plucked out a crisp and held it to Ryou's lips.

"Open," it said.

Ryou turned his face away. "Can't you just untie me?"

It chuckled and shook its head. Then it forced the crisp between the pale pink lips so that Ryou had to chew and swallow.

Ryou tried to protest again, but it simply used the opportunity to shove another crisp in his mouth. The young man scowled as he chewed. He didn't like the feeling of that thing's fingers brushing past his lips. Marik's warning rang in his head. Never trust it. On the other hand, if it was feeding him it wasn't hurting him. If he put up too much of a fight, it might let him starve to death. So he chewed, swallowed, opened his mouth, and repeated, until both bags of crisps and the candy bar were gone.

The mad spirit picked up the can and considered it. Then it pulled Ryou away from the wall and situated itself behind him. As it forced the young man to lean against its chest, Ryou shuddered and pulled his hands farther up his back. Sitting so close with its legs splayed on either side of him put his hands in a very awkward position. If it noticed it didn't react. It held the can in front of him and cracked open the pop tab. The hiss of air that escaped suggested the beverage was carbonated. Ryou let it bring the can to his lips and tip the sweet liquid into his mouth. He didn't exactly have much choice in the matter.

Liquid trickled from the corners of his mouth, down his chin, and spattered the front of his shirt, but he drank as much of it as he could without choking. When he finished, the dark being used the front edge of Ryou's shirt to wipe his mouth. Then tan fingers swept some hair away from the side of his face.

"Is that better, little thing?" It cooed in the newly exposed ear.

Ryou tilted his head away from the voice and clenched his fists. At least it wasn't hurting him.

A sharp nail slowly traced his neck from his ear to his shoulder. "You're so blank," it said in the frighteningly empty voice.

Ryou couldn't tell if it was a threat or an observation, but he definitely didn't like it. He knew Marik had said he couldn't reason with it, but he had questions and concerns and he really didn't like the way things were unfolding. Partly out of curiosity, mostly to distract it, he forced himself to level his voice and asked, "What if I have to use the loo?"

It stopped moving but it didn't answer.

"Bathroom?" Ryou corrected, hoping it was just confused. He couldn't see its face and he didn't want to look.

It looked around and leaned over to retrieve something from the floor. Ryou couldn't see it very well at first, but he quickly realized it was the blindfold. Then it scooped him up in its arms and started walking again. They descended the six flights of stairs and then it tucked Ryou under one arm while it opened two more doors. It set Ryou on his feet and stood behind him.

When he felt hands at the waist of his jeans Ryou yelped and tried to twist away instinctively. All he did was almost fall. The mad spirit leaned its weight into him, pinning the smaller body to the wall of the cubical with its chest while it continued working open his fly.

"Wait!" Ryou begged as it pushed his clothing down under his bottom.

"Are you shy?" The dark thing asked. Then it smiled. "You're my little thing, there's no reason to be shy."

"I want to do it myself." Ryou's voice shook. "Please?"

The rage construct growled. When it spoke all traces of the comforting lilt had vanished. "You're trying to trick me into unbinding you."

Ryou's heart skipped a beat. "No," he protested. "I'm shy. I only-" He winced and tried to keep his balance as the mad spirit jerked his pants down to his knees. It grabbed his upper arms, spun him around, and all but slammed him down on the toilet seat.

"Then go," it hissed.

Pain resonated through his lower body and fear paralyzed him. He heard the rage construct slam its fists on either side of the bathroom stall and sensed it leaning over him.

"If it's not a trick, then go!" It yelled.

Or what? Ryou thought, terrified. The fear made him sick, but it had been several hours. Fighting to concentrate, he managed to obey. The shadow looming over him receded. That didn't offer much relief, though. Was it still angry? Would it still hurt him? His heart wouldn't stop thudding.

After what seemed like an eternity the dark being lifted him to his feet, dressed him, and carried him back upstairs. It only removed the blindfold once Ryou was back on the floor of the storage unit. Kneeling in front of him, it cradled Ryou's head in both hands.

"I'm sorry I had to yell at you, little thing," it cooed. "Listen to me next time, okay?"

Ryou stared at the half-lidded eyes. The dead smile. It was horrifying Don't trust it, Marik had said. Don't. But what was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? "O-okay..." he answered uncertainly.

It patted his cheek, picked up his messenger bag, and left him in the dark again.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryou pressed his face against the floor and groaned. He squirmed and stretched his arms as far as he could in any direction, but relieving his stiff shoulders became harder and harder. Not to mention he was sure the dark being had bruised his bum and upper thighs. It hurt to sit up, so he'd curled up on his side until his shoulder cramp forced him to roll over. Then his other shoulder had started complaining, so he'd rolled onto his belly. Now here he was face down and miserable, alone in the dark with his thoughts and fears.

When the Ring spirit had started exerting control over his body regularly, the British boy had spent a lot of time in his soul room. While he'd hated surrendering control for the Ring spirit to do who-knows-what, at least he'd had his own space full of his own interests. Time passed quickly in his soul room. The Ring spirit had also generally taken pretty good care of Ryou's body. They both needed the body intact and functioning, after all. The Ring spirit had been callous and pushy and Ryou didn't miss him at all, but he'd rarely felt genuinely afraid for his life.

Not like this.

The darkness here was absolute. The darkness here was confining and painful. The darkness here would shatter him, accidentally or on a whim, without a second thought. On top of that he was convinced this thing would never voluntarily release him. He believed Marik was looking for him, but he didn't believe leaving would be easy. The rage construct might even try to keep both of them here.

No, Marik knew better than to show up alone. He'd bring someone. Maybe his family, or...

With his thoughts more-or-less free to wander, Ryou finally found himself wondering who Marik had been with when Ryou called. The Egyptian had been close with the Ring spirit. Sometimes Ryou wondered if that was the only reason Marik had remained in contact with him. The nostalgia of an almost familiar face. If the Ring spirit really had sought out Marik it wouldn't have harmed him. That left Ryou with one question. How much had Marik already known?

The door clattered open. Ryou hid his face against his knees. A hand pulled him into a sitting position and Ryou cried out as various parts of his body complained. Two violet circles glowed inches from his face. It was too dark to make out his abductor's expression beyond that. The sun had set. The mad spirit didn't seem to be hindered by the darkness at all, though.

"Did you use it?" It asked in that dull, unreadable tone.

For once Ryou actually wished he could see its face. At least then he'd have some idea of what it was thinking. "I'm not sure what you mean," Ryou answered shakily.

"Your phone." It still didn't sound angry or happy.

The young man's throat tightened, but it wasn't hard to hide. His face was already streaked with tears. He shook his head slowly. "I didn't have time to charge it before class. I thought-" His voice hitched and his eyes stung. "I'd intended to charge it when I got home..."

It grabbed his head and pulled their faces together again. "Good," it breathed. "You wouldn't like what I'd have to do if you did." One hand slid down the back of his head, around the side of his neck, and gripped his jaw. "We want this to stay pleasant, don't we."

Ryou squeezed his eyes shut and wrinkled his nose. Its breath was hot and harsh the way he imagined a dragon's would be. All he could manage was a nod.

"Great." It sounded happy as it moved away from his face and clapped its hands together once. "In the spirit of keeping things pleasant, let's play."

The young man watched it warily. Part of him hoped that meant it would finally release his arms, but he didn't dare ask. Not after last time.

"What to play, what to play..." It murmured to itself. The eyes studied Ryou intently. Then they brightened. "Let's play tic tac toe."

Ryou just stared at it. He couldn't use his hands. He couldn't even see. What did it expect him to do?

It pushed him onto his back and straddled his hips. Ryou felt it tug at his shirt, heard a ripping sound, and then felt cool air on his chest and stomach. He tried to sit up, but a hand at this throat pinned him. Something sharp scratched four lines into the left side of his stomach. Hundreds of protests and questions and pleas bottle necked at his vocal cords and came out as an unintelligible cry.

"Do you want crosses or circles?" It asked. Its calm violet eyes met Ryou's terrified brown ones. The angle of the floating lights changed as it tilted its head. "Relax, little thing. I barely broke skin." It sounded amused, either by his pain or by his dramatic reaction to something it deemed insignificant. Perhaps a combination of the two.

"I- I have paper..." Ryou stammered hopelessly.

"You are paper," it smiled as it leaned closer. The back of a sharp nail traced Ryou's jaw. "A beautiful piece of blank paper that makes its own beautiful ink." It sat upright. "I'll take crosses first and we can alternate until one of us manages to win. Does that sound fair?"

Ryou shuddered. If it was like this when it was happy, he really didn't want to see it angry. "I can't see..." he pointed out, stalling. Stalling.

The weight on top of Ryou shifted. "I'll tell you what I'm doing, you tell me what you want to do. It's not complicated."

The cutting implement stung him again. Ryou winced.

"You need to hold still, little thing. Cutting a circle is going to be hard enough without you squirming all over the place." There was an expectant pause and then its eyes slipped closed for a moment. It chuckled. "Right. You can't see." The eyes opened. "Mine is in the center. Where would you like me to put yours?"

It almost didn't matter where he put his mark. The trouble with tic tac toe was that both players doing their best ended in a tie ninety nine percent of the time. Ryou took a breath. "Top center." A muscular forearm pinned Ryou's torso as the dark being carefully carved the next two symbols.

"Bottom left corner," it said.

Hoping it would leave him alone if he let it win, Ryou told it to put the next circle in the lower center of the grid. It threw its head back and brought the palm of its free hand down on his belly.

"Little thing, little thing, little thing..." It sighed and its head lolled forward again. "Your attempts," it slapped his belly a little harder, "at getting rid of me," harder still, "are pathetically transparent."

Ryou would've curled into a ball if he could. As it happened, he bit back his yelps and watched the mad spirit nervously. It grabbed his hair and yanked him into a sitting position.

"I wanted to keep things casual and fun," it murmured in his ear. "If you want to be difficult, I can attach a penalty for failing to win. Are you a difficult little thing?"

"No," Ryou relented.

"Tell me your next move," it coaxed.

"Upper..." Ryou squeezed his eyes shut and tried to remember what they had been doing. "Upper right corner..."

It lowered him to the floor, patted his belly more gently, and the game continued.

Five rounds in Ryou wracked his brain trying to remember the trick that Yugi had taught him. He thought he remembered corner, corner, middle, or corner, corner, corner, but the rage construct had managed to block him into a tie both times. Of course it wasn't foolproof. Nothing in this stupid 'game' was foolproof. The thin chest heaved under the pressure of the dark being's hand as metal parted skin. His stomach stung and his shoulders hurt and his hands were falling asleep and he just wanted to be home in bed.

It carved the last line of the sixth board with almost reverent precision. A crisscrossing mishmash of lines decorated the pale canvas from hips to ribs. The pair of lights watched him as it waited for him to speak. Ryou was beyond sick of looking at them.

He opened his mouth to speak twice, but shut it both times. "Bloody... bottom... right corner, I don't know," he groaned, letting his head flop back and closing his eyes. "This game is impossible. You know as well as I do." The knife may have dug in a touch harder as it carved the x into his side, but the general backdrop of pain made it hard to tell.

"I suppose I should save some paper for later," the mad spirit reflected.

The hand that started stroking Ryou's stomach lit each cut on fire. His shoulders curled off the floor as he tried to shrink away from the unexpected touch.

"It takes a while to erase itself." It bent forward and crossed its arms on Ryou's chest. "Good night, little thing. I will be back in the morning to feed you."

A dark finger tapped a pale nose, and then the weight lifted and Ryou couldn't see the eyes anymore. Since it had effectively eliminated sleeping on his stomach as an option, Ryou found himself at a loss. "How long are you going to leave me like this?" He asked softly.

"What do you mean?" It asked without turning around.

Ryou gritted his teeth. "Please let me stretch, just a little bit. Please? You can tape me right back up after, but I... I _need_ it. _Please_."

"If you ask me to unbind you," it said, "then you are not ready to be unbound."

The door clattered and Ryou found himself alone for the rest of the miserable night.


	3. Chapter 3

Ryou awoke to the sound of his abductor's return. Even the filtered sunlight seemed bright in comparison to the pitch black of the last several hours. He squinted at the shape approaching him.

"Good morning, little thing," it grinned.

Ryou blinked at it. He'd barely slept at all. Even if he hadn't been tied up, the floor was bare, cold concrete. Everything felt fuzzy.

It plopped down next to him and lifted him into a sitting position. "Aw, are you a grumpy little thing in the morning?"

Fingers pinched his cheek too hard, but Ryou barely noticed. His arms sprang to life with pins and needles as soon as it moved him. He groaned and twisted his wrists in the tape.

"I bet you're hungry," it continued.

Ryou let it prop him up with one arm while it rummaged through his school bag. It pulled out another fistful of snack food. For a moment he found himself awkwardly embraced with his head caught against the mad spirit's neck as it unwrapped a candy bar. The dark being had no sense of personal space, but Ryou was too groggy to protest. He did wonder why it was always feeding him candy, though. Where was it getting this stuff? Were there people nearby somehow? Was it information that would help Marik find him?

Half-lidded eyes watched him from above a hollow smile as it shoved the chocolate into his mouth. Ryou shivered and tried to duck behind his hair as chewed. As his eyes darted down, they caught sight of his stomach and widened. None of the cuts were deeper than a cat scratch, but there were so many! Pink welts outlined thin, red furrows. He'd known what it was doing at the time, but seeing all that red stunned him a little.

"You groggy little thing," the mad spirit laughed. "Come on, eat up." It forced more candy into his mouth.

Ryou groaned and made himself chew and swallow more quickly. It would probably choke him if he didn't.

When it was done feeding Ryou, it blindfolded him and carried him downstairs. Ryou couldn't help wondering what it didn't want him to see. From the changing light levels, he determined there must be windows. Maybe it didn't want him looking outside. Or maybe it simply liked having him bound and helpless. He heard its footsteps cross onto the bathroom tile and braced himself for what he knew was coming. It pressed him against the wall again, standing way too close as it unzipped his jeans. Last time it had only hurt him when he complained. All he had to was keep his mouth shut for the next five minutes.

It paused with Ryou's pants at mid-thigh. Then he felt fingers move up the backs of his legs. Just as Ryou finished wondering what the buggering psychopath was doing _now_ , the hands reached his backside and squeezed. Ryou yelped and jerked forward. His bruised flesh hadn't liked that any more than his jittering nerves.

"You mark up so pretty," the dark being mused. "Much easier than Marik. His bruises never lit up like this." It caught Ryou's chin and turned his face over his shoulder. "Did you know that for a while Odion managed to convince Marik that I wasn't real? Silly little thing thought I was his conscience or something. Can you imagine?" It laughed. "After a while, I was able to carve messages into his legs when Odion wasn't looking. Mostly at night, when they were both tired. Little thing stopped talking about me after that. I think he was afraid of what I might do."

Ryou didn't know what to say to that. _Please don't carve me up, Mr. Rage Construct_ just seemed kind of pathetic and hopeless.

"You were such a chatty little thing yesterday," it said in the voice that was neither happy nor upset- like it hadn't decided how it wanted to feel about that yet.

The young man tried to shrug, but his shoulders didn't really cooperate. He only wanted this moment to end. Standing half-naked while the rage construct fawned over his flesh tied his stomach in knots. "I'm not sure what you want me to say..." Ryou whispered. A palm splayed open on his stomach and sharp nails dug in slightly. It wouldn't have hurt much except that some of them managed to find the cuts. Tentative scabs opened and turned wet. Ryou yelped and tried to shrink away but came up short against the solid body behind him. An elbow hooked across his neck to keep him upright.

"You have no idea how happy I am to have found you," the dark being chuckled. The claws clenched harder.

Ryou screamed. He could feel its teeth against his ear and there was a moment where he was sure it was going to bite him. Instead it sucked in a deep breath through its nose and pushed a contented sigh out through its mouth. The embrace loosened, but the young man couldn't stop shaking.

It guided him onto the toilet and left the stall. For a while Ryou sat there trying to absorb what had just happened. The idea that the rage construct liked him in some way managed to be just as terrifying as the idea of it hating him. On the bright side maybe that meant it wouldn't kill him?

He wished it would give him a chance to call Marik again. He needed to talk to someone normal, or at least not insane. Ryou flexed his fingers. They responded with a sluggish stiffness. Did they even have enough dexterity left to get the battery into the phone? When would it bloody untie him?

Several minutes later it returned and dragged him to his feet. Ryou expected it to pick him up and carry him off again, but it pinned him to the wall instead. Something long and metallic brushed his fingers. The young man froze as the mad spirit sawed through the tape. Had Ryou done something right? Or was it planning on doing something worse?

It stripped away the remains of his shirt, grabbed his wrists, and pulled his arms above his head. The pale shoulders cracked and Ryou yelped. He breathed deeply through his mouth as the pain of the sudden re-positioning faded into something that was almost relief. His forehead thumped lightly against the wall as he went slack in the dark being's grip.

"Are you a difficult little thing?" It asked.

"No..." Ryou whispered uncertainly. The last time it asked him that, it pulled a knife on him.

It hooked Ryou's fingers over the top of the cubical and squeezed them in place. "Then keep these here."

Nails tickled down Ryou's arms and sides. They raked through his hair and parted it over his shoulders. Each movement was slow, careful, almost gentle.

Then he did feel teeth clamp onto the nape of his neck. He cried out and tightened his grip on the wall. If this was a test... he was horrified to realize that letting it chew on him seemed like a small price to pay for having his arms free. It embraced him, digging its claws into his sides, and he felt something hot and wet slither up the back of his aching neck. He shuddered and tried not think of ghouls, or demons, or vampires as it caught his shoulder between its teeth. Just because he hadn't seen the mad spirit eat candy, didn't mean it would eat him. It only wanted to mark him up a little. Ryou tried to convince himself that he could live with that, but his thoughts were interrupted by the fresh welts it scratched across his stomach. He made a sobbing noise and squeezed the wall until his knuckles turned white. He wouldn't go through all of this just to be tied up again. He refused.

It chewed and scratched and licked him for what seemed like hours, sighing and sometimes even moaning in a way that made the young man physically ill. Ryou's neck, shoulders, and upper arms were sticky, but if it was saliva, blood, or both he didn't know. Each bite certainly felt like it broke skin.

Finally it stopped and whispered, "Put your hands behind your back."

Ryou's heart lurched. "Wait, why?"

"Are you a difficult little thing?" The voice had gone hollow.

The tears Ryou had held back so carefully welled up and fell. "N... No..."

It spoke with a dangerous growl. "Then you get one more chance before I put you through this wall."

Ryou sobbed quietly as he let it wrap his wrists with tape. He'd failed. He'd gotten so close and failed somehow. There was no telling when he'd get another chance.


	4. Chapter 4

Ryou squirmed across the floor in the dark. The rough floor irritated the wounds on his arms and shoulders, but he knew it had left the messenger bag behind this time. Fortunately the room wasn't very big. Otherwise it could have been a lot longer before his head bumped the bag. He sat up and fumbled through the outer pocket with his fingers. The phone wasn't there.

Ryou's breath quickened. He struggled onto his knees and bent awkwardly to reach the main pocket. Listening hard for any indication of sound in the aisle, he fumbled through his stuff. His textbooks made it hard to get to the bottom. Apparently the mad spirit had filled the all the available space with junk food last night, as well. He eventually found his phone buried beneath some canned drinks. Maybe if it caught him digging around he could tell it he was thirsty.

He rolled onto his side and twisted to reach his shoe. The scabs on his shoulders and belly cracked and stung, but he didn't have time to think about that. He pulled off his shoe and shook it until he heard the battery fall out. Ryou heaved a sigh. That had been the easy part. He picked up the phone and fumbled the compartment on the back open. Holding the phone between his feet so that he wouldn't lose it, he turned the battery over in his hands until he thought he had it oriented correctly. It still took several attempts to wiggle it into the slot at the right angle and get the cover on. He dropped each piece at least twice. Each time his heart beat a little harder until the only thing that kept him from screaming in frustration was the threat of being caught.

With a silent plea to no one in particular, he found and pressed the power button. There was a pause, and then the darkness brightened a bit.

If it walked in on him now, he'd be so screwed. So, so, so screwed. He hadn't really thought much about the consequences the first time he'd called Marik. That was before the rage construct had sliced up his stomach and used him as a chew toy for fun. Not hate or anger. Fun, and maybe also... Ryou shuddered.

He almost turned the phone off and put it back. Marik already knew they were in an abandoned storage facility. What did Ryou really need to say at the risk being caught like this?

But it wasn't really about passing information along to Marik. He felt sick and wrong about what had happened in the toilet stall for a myriad of reasons that he didn't want to fully analyze and he needed to hear a comforting voice. He dialed.

Marik answered on the second ring. "Ryou?" He sounded tense.

"Yes..." Ryou's voice cracked. The strained, choked sound of it startled him a little.

Marik let out a held breath. "Thank the gods you're still alive. We had a lot of false starts over here. Abandoned buildings don't really show up on Google maps. It's frustrating."

Ryou groaned and let his head slump to the floor. "Please tell me you have an idea."

"We're talking to some people from an urban exploration message board. It's promising."

To his credit Marik had tried to sound optimistic, but Ryou could hear the hitch in his voice at those last two words. He didn't blame him. There were probably all kinds of little towns and cities within three to five hours from his apartment.

"Have you seen or heard anything to narrow it down?" Marik asked as if following Ryou's thoughts.

"It blindfolds me every time it takes me out of the storage unit. I think I'm on the third floor. There's a toilet downstairs..." Ryou's voice cracked and he bit his lip. He could almost still feel it licking him. His hair clung to his shoulders and neck. He felt so gross.

"It's gonna be okay, Ryou," Marik insisted.

Ryou's voice shook. "I don't know how much longer I can take the bloody mood swings. It's bloody terrifying."

"I know. I still remember being afraid to fall asleep..." Marik sighed. "I wish I could help, but there was nothing I could do then and there's nothing you can do now. He's made of hate. He's incapable of being happy."

 _It seemed pretty happy when it was chewing on my neck_ , Ryou thought, but he didn't say it out loud. "What is it even doing here?" It was a rhetorical question. He didn't expect Marik to have an answer.

"The shadow realm must have purged its souls to the afterlife when the pharaoh defeated Zorc," Marik said. "When the pharaoh opened the door to cross over, it could have worked both ways. Doorways like that can be very unstable."

"But the- it wasn't a soul... Was it?"

"It was a piece of mine. Sometimes a piece is all it takes."

Ryou hesitated. "Could anyone else have gotten through?" There was silence. Marik knew what Ryou was really asking. For a moment Ryou thought he might try to lie.

"It's a long story. Do we have time to talk?" Marik asked.

"I don't know," Ryou answered softly.

"Then I'll tell you about it when we find you."

Ryou was torn. He didn't want to hang up. He didn't want to be caught on the phone. "I don't want to be alone," he whimpered.

"It won't be much longer," Marik assured. "Stay tough."

Ryou swallowed a sob. He needed to get off the phone and he didn't want Marik to feel guilty. "It was really nice to hear your voice. I'll let you go."

Marik hung up and Ryou dismantled the phone again. He was physically and mentally exhausted. Lying in the dark he eventually passed out.

He sensed its presence before he saw it. Brown eyes fluttered open. The room was still dark. Ryou rolled onto his back and turned his head. The hauntingly familiar pair lights seemed to hover about three feet off the ground. When Ryou moved, they widened and glowed a little brighter. How long had it been sitting there? The thought gave Ryou a chill.

He heard it shift and crawl toward him. Its eyes narrowed like it was smiling. The young man sat up abruptly as it crawled up his legs. A light snapped on, illuminating the hideously grinning face from underneath. Ryou gasped.

"What do you think, little thing?" It asked and tilted the flashlight toward Ryou. "Now that you can see, we can play all kinds of games."

Ryou squinted and averted his eyes from the beam. It sat straddling his lap and cocked its head, leaning to maintain eye contact.

"You want to play with me, don't you?" It asked.

At the moment, he mostly wanted it to stop touching him so much. It had started out unsettling but bearable. Now the feeling of its breath on his face made his skin crawl. Of course it leaned closer, pressing its face to the side of his head. Ryou shuddered.

"If you play with me," it whispered against his cheek, "I'll let you use your hands. If not, I guess I'll have to make my own fun." A finger traced Ryou's spine. "I'm not too picky, honestly."

Something hot and wet followed the curve of Ryou's ear. The young man cringed. "W-what do you want to play?" Ryou stammered quickly.

It grinned at him, punctuating each word with a tap on Ryou's chest. "Dots and boxes."

The young man groaned. "Can't we play something else?" _Something that doesn't involve_ me _being paper?_ Because he knew what was coming.

It dug its nails into the teeth marks on the back of his neck and glared into his eyes. "You keep _saying_ you're not a difficult little thing, but I'm having a hard time believing it."

Ryou cried out. "Okay! I'll play whatever you want!"

"Do you _want_ to play?" Its expression was somewhere between a grin and snarl.

"Yes," Ryou choked out. "I want to play!"

The grip loosened and shifted to the pale throat. "Hold still." It pinned him on the floor and jabbed a grid of dots into his chest with the tip of the box cutter.

The series of quick, sharp pricks didn't hurt quite as much as the tic tac toe game, but Ryou knew it would get worse. The dark being looked far too eager as it rolled him over to free his hands. When it flipped him onto his back, it pinned one of Ryou's hands with a knee. Then Ryou felt it press the box cutter into his free hand. A dark fist wrapped the pale fingers around the handle and squeezed. Ryou stared up a the mad spirit with a mixture of confusion and shock.

"I'll let you go first this time."

The flashlight illuminated the pale chest. There was a very brief moment where Ryou wondered about the logistics of stabbing it in the throat and getting out from under it before it retaliated. He quickly decided against that for several reasons. His eyes dropped to the field of red dots on his chest instead. What would it do if he kept being difficult? Make its own fun? He didn't want to find out, so he lowered the tip of the blade to one of the dots. His hand shook as he shot one more glance at the mad spirit's face.

It watched him impassively, like a chess player waiting for an opponent to make his move.

Ryou gritted his teeth, held his breath, and pressed down on the blade. Breaking the skin took more pressure than he thought, but a quick flick of his fingers created a red line between two of the dots. His chest heaved as he let his head collapse onto the floor. Before the pain of the first cut could finish fading, he felt the being on top of him make its move. Then, too soon, the knife was back in Ryou's hand.

The initial back and forth was almost intolerable. Cut upon cut upon cut without a reprieve. As the wandering series of lines grew to cover the majority of the grid and his opponent had to spend more time considering its moves, Ryou had more time to recover after each tiny jolt to his nervous system. His chest burned, but it was a dull, background burn compared to the initial shock of a fresh cut.

The ending phase was probably the worst, though. As they moved on to closing boxes, Ryou had to endure several scratches in a row. Biting back his sense of self-preservation long enough to create one cut was doable, but the more he had to make the more his hand shook. The more he hesitated. His will to press hard enough to draw blood wavered and some lines took multiple attempts. Opening a welt hurt more than opening fresh skin.

Poking at each square with an unnecessary amount of force, the mad spirit counted up their final score. "Not bad, little thing. If you concentrate harder, you might actually win next time." Its voice was bright, but the smile never quite reached its eyes.

Incapable of being happy, Marik had said. It was hard for Ryou to imagine such a thing. Even the vengeful Ring spirit had moments of happiness. Tan fingers smeared tiny beads of blood across Ryou's chest. The saltiness of its skin stung the wounds.

"I wonder if I need to tell you what happens next," it mused as violet eyes met brown ones.

Ryou hesitated, and then sighed. Shifting underneath it, he rolled onto his stomach and crossed his wrists behind him.

A mad cackle echoed off the walls. "I knew you weren't such a bad little thing," it crowed.

He felt the familiar stickiness on his skin, but didn't have the strength to fight it anymore. Being bound was just a thing he had to accept until Marik got here.


	5. Chapter 5

It stretched out on the floor next to Ryou and stayed there for a long time, shoulder to shoulder with the terrified youth. Presumably staring at the ceiling, but Ryou was too afraid to move, much less look at it. He fought to control his shaky breathing, but surely it could hear his pounding heart anyway. Belly down on the concrete with his head turned to one side, his neck started to cramp, but he still didn't move. Maybe it would get bored and go away. Maybe it would forget he was there.

After an eternity or two it rolled onto its side and he could feel its eyes boring into the back of his skull. Ryou bit his lip. Claws tickled lazy patterns on the nape of his neck, his shoulder blades, his back, his arms, any little bit of bare skin it could reach. Fingers circled puncture wounds and bruises. Ryou squeezed his eyes shut as it stared at him for another set of eternities. He wondered what it was thinking. He tried not to think about what it was thinking.

It moved away briefly, but when it returned it rolled him onto his side so it was almost spooning with him. Ryou felt something bready on his lips and let the dark being shove it in his mouth. He ate the snack cake mechanically without bothering to identify it. Once Ryou finished eating, the mad spirit left him alone for another long time.

A series of long times. That's what the last two... three? Two? That's what his days were. All he knew was that the aisle outside the storage unit was lighter again the next time it returned.

It carried the remains of Ryou's shirt wrapped around something lumpy and heavy. Something that was shortly revealed to be a bunch of water bottles. It sat on its heals and pulled Ryou across its lap. After soaking a corner of the shirt with water, it dabbed and wiped at the dried blood decorating Ryou's chest and stomach. "So much beautiful skin," it mused, "but still never enough."

So it would be the positive end of the mood swings this time, would it? Ryou didn't speak, afraid of bungling up the moment. Even if it was only cleaning him to cut him up again, at this point he welcomed any reprieve from its more violent moods. It watched Ryou's face, all half-lidded eyes and empty smiles. Ryou forced a tight, nervous smile in response. Keep it calm. Keep it happy.

Water dribbled over Ryou's stomach. He tried not to squirm. The drops tickled. The dead eyes wandered south as it continued cleaning the front of Ryou's torso. Then it propped him up and made him lean forward. More rivulets coursed down Ryou's back. The sensation was so refreshing that Ryou almost sighed. _Almost._ But danger was one wrong move-one wrong word-away. Even as it gently cleaned his neck and arms, he couldn't let himself forget that.

"Is my little thing enjoying its bath?" The mad spirit cooed.

"Yes," Ryou nodded, hoping it wouldn't press him for lying. His voice was strained, his shoulders tense. There was no way it couldn't read the discomfort in every line of his body.

Then it happened.

Still gentle, it guided him into a reclining position and unzipped his jeans. Its expression remained content and detached as it worked the clothing down Ryou's legs. Presumably to clean the rest of the pale body. The young man was more embarrassed than afraid as he swallowed his complaints, though he really hoped it didn't intend to touch the more intimate parts of him. Or start biting and licking him again.

When it pulled out the box cutter to do away with the tape on his ankles, he realized it intended to strip him completely. On the tail end of that thought, a more alarming one: _Its going to take off my shoes... Bloody buggering hell, no, no, no..._

It must've heard the change in his respiration, because it cocked its head at him as it removed his pants, underwear, and shoes it one, big bundle. "Such a shy little thing," it chuckled as it set the bundle aside.

Ryou almost bit right through his own lip as it washed his legs and feet. It took all of his willpower not to cast panicked glances at the wad of clothes. Where was the battery? Tangled in the heap? It could see in the dark. He couldn't hope that the shadows would conceal the contraband.

"What games could we play on these, do you think?" It smirked as it rubbed Ryou's thigh.

A game! The young man never imagined he'd willingly encourage the mad spirit's games, but that had to be a better alternative to whatever it might do if it figured out he'd used the phone. Maybe it would forget or choose not to dress him. It loved staring at his cuts. "Pictionary?" He suggested with a weak grin.

The dark being looked at him, and then laughed. It leaned over him and pinched his cheek. "You're a cute little thing, but I don't think I'll unbind you today. I like you like this. You're like a little poseable doll." It tapped him on the nose.

 _Dammit, dammit, you crazy bastard!_ Ryou seriously considered running as it leaned across him to grab his jeans, but he knew he wouldn't get far.

It paused, looking confused. Leaning across Ryou again, it sat back with a black, plastic square in its hands. Purple eyes widened as it studied the object. "What is this?" It asked in a low, strangled voice.

Ryou couldn't speak. He could barely breathe.

A snarl twisted its features and it shot to its feet. It stormed over to Ryou's messenger bag and literally tore it open, shaking the contents onto the floor.

He sat up and scooted backwards until a wall stopped him, blindly and thoughtlessly putting as much distance between him and the rage construct as possible.

It snatched up the phone and clawed at it for while, but it was too lost in its anger to get the battery compartment open. The dark being opted to roar unintelligibly and chuck the phone at the source of its ire with as much force as possible.

Ryou yelped as the phone bounced off his head. Then the wild face filled his vision. The purple voids in its eyes dilated until they were nothing but a dark, seething purplish black that reminded Ryou of the Shadow Realm. Nails dug into his upper arms until blood ran from each puncture.

"What did you do?" It snarled.

The tears filling Ryou's eyes blurred the murderous face, as though his body was trying to protect him from the paralyzing fear consuming his thoughts. He opened his mouth but couldn't get out anything beyond a choked squeak. The rage construct slammed him against the wall so hard that colored lights exploded in his vision.

"Who did you call?!" It slammed him against the wall a second and a third time without waiting for an answer.

"Ma...ik..." Ryou forced through his tears. "M- Marik..." He regretted saying it instantly, but he had to say something. He felt something wet in his hair and he was sure the rage construct would smash his head to paste if he didn't appease it.

Bloody fingers squeezed his throat. "What did you tell him?"

"I'm sorry," Ryou sobbed, beside himself with guilt and panic. "I'm sorry..."

The rage construct dragged him away from the wall and forced him onto his knees. It wrapped one arm around the back of Ryou's head and pinched his nose. The other hand grabbed a half-empty bottle of water and jammed it between his teeth. The powerful hands forced Ryou's head back.

Water filled Ryou's mouth and streamed from the corners of his lips as he struggled and gurgled. His reflexes coughed up the first mouthful, but he almost aspirated the second. For a terrifying moment he felt like he was drowning. The cruel hands released him and he doubled over hacking. A tug on his hair pulled his head up and back again. The rage construct was holding a full bottle.

"What did you tell him?" It repeated.

"Storage unit..." Ryou rasped. "I told him," he took a deep breath, "I'm in a-" he coughed. "Storage unit..."

"What else?"

"Nothing," Ryou pleaded. "Nothing else, I swear!"

It emptied the second water bottle over Ryou's upturned face and then dragged him to the door. Leaving him curled up on the floor, it grabbed the handle and dragged the door with it as it knelt straddling its shivering, naked hostage. A knee wedged itself between Ryou's arms and back. It held his body in place while a free hand grabbed Ryou's arms and forced them out behind him.

Ryou screamed. Was it trying to break his shoulders? "Please, I really didn't tell him anything else!"

A tanned fist gripped pale arms just below the wrist, pinning the bound hands so they lined up with a seam in the floor. "I believe you." Its other hand slammed the door down across Ryou's fingers.

An echoing wail tore itself from Ryou's throat. He squirmed and kicked, but his arms didn't have any leverage in this position.

"No more phone," the dark being said and brought the heavy, metal shutter down one more time for good measure.

The young man rolled away when it finally released him. Gut wrenching sobs wracked the scrawny little body.

The rage construct straightened up and heaved a sigh as it ran its fingers through its spiky explosion of blond hair. "I need to figure out what to do about this," it murmured, mostly calm once more. It retrieved the pieces of the phone and left Ryou sobbing in the dark.


	6. Chapter 6

He couldn't move his hands. Even the slightest twitch of a pinky sent fire racing up his arms. He tucked his legs under his belly and sobbed with his face between his knees. He cried until his head throbbed too much to keep crying. The pain. He couldn't think of anything else.

The clattering of the door hit him right in the nerves. A cold sense of dread filled his stomach and set his whole body shivering. He whimpered as the chilling presence settled behind him. A claw tickled across his slightly curved palm and pressed lightly on the tip of a bruised, swollen finger. Ryou screamed. It was here to torture him again. It had to be. More tears slipped from his eyes. The salt burned his cheeks.

"Can you make a fist?" It asked as it poked at the back of Ryou's fingers.

The shock made Ryou's whole body shudder. "Please, please, no," he whimpered. "Please don't make me move them..."

It crawled around in front of him and grabbed his jaw. "I don't want to maim you, little thing," it said in the empty voice that made Ryou shiver. It definitely didn't look or sound regretful. "But if I can't trust you with your fingers, I can't let you use them, can I?" A rhetorical question.

"I'm sorry..." Ryou sniffled.

Hands gripped either side of Ryou's head and the dark being pressed their foreheads together. "I know, little thing," it said. "I forgive you."

Ryou swallowed and sniffed. His mouth felt like cotton and his throat felt like sandpaper. The mad spirit leaned to one side and picked up a water bottle. Ryou's heart skipped a beat and he shrank away. A hand on the back of his head stopped him. He squeezed his eyes shut as it pressed the mouth of the bottle to his lips. The bottle tipped just enough to let a trickle of water run over his tongue. The cool moisture refreshed his raw throat and he sipped eagerly after that.

When he finished the bottle, the dark being brought him to the toilets again. Ryou flinched at being led around naked, but he was too busy trying not to jostle his hands to think about it too much. The place was pitch black at night and he had to rely on the mad spirit gripping his upper arm to guide him through it. He almost would have preferred being carried, especially when it came to negotiating the stairs.

After their footsteps moved onto bathroom tile, it bent him over something that felt like a sink and touched his hands. Ryou bit back another yelp when he realized it was just unbinding his wrists. It left him in the stall alone, but he knew it was waiting somewhere near the sink. He could hear it breathing. Once more he found himself vaguely wondering what could be going through its head at times like this, when it was so unnaturally silent and unmoving, but he was too relieved by the calm to dwell on it.

Eventually it returned for him. The thought of standing up or calling out beforehand didn't even occur to Ryou. He waited until he felt the hand on his arm, and then he followed the dark being where it led him. He kept his hands close to his chest to shield them from accidental jostling as the mad spirit grabbed his waist and set him on the counter. This turn of events frightened him. He'd been hoping it would take him straight upstairs.

The flashlight clicked on and the mad spirit set it on the counter, aimed at the ceiling. "Now we can play," it smiled. "Do you like hide and seek?"

Ryou nodded and averted his eyes.

"Good! This version has special rules," it explained as it as grabbed a pale ankle and raised the foot attached to it.

The weird shadows made it hard to make out what the dark being pulled out of his pocket, but Ryou figured it out quickly when the blade slashed the bottom of his foot. He hid behind his arms as it made several similar slashes on both feet. The idea of asking it to stop didn't really occur to him. It was happy and he wanted it to stay that way.

It presented the flashlight to him, and Ryou took it in his arms like a stuffed animal. Then it carried him toward the foot of the stairwell.

"I'll count to one hundred, to give you plenty of time to hide anywhere on the upper floors," it explained as it walked. "Then I'll track your footsteps. Try to make it fun, hm?"

Ryou sucked air between his teeth as it set him on his feet at the bottom of the steps. "Okay," he said softly.

It turned its back to him and announced loudly and clearly. "One. Two."

Ryou stumbled up the stairs with the flashlight clenched under one arm. He'd have to figure out how to turn it off. Or at least ditch it when he finished climbing the stairs. Each step felt like fire and his legs threatened to give out. When they finally did buckle, he forgot himself and reached for the banister. The sharp twinge left him breathless and dizzy and he almost lost the flashlight.

The powerful voice echoed up the stairwell. Even and unfazed by the commotion. "Thirty-one. Thirty-two."

Propping an elbow on the banister to support himself, Ryou struggled to the top of the stairs and limped into the first cavern of storage units. Make it fun. Make it fun... He turned his body, pointing the beam of light under his arm side to side. It sounded like the mad spirit was still in the forties, so Ryou picked a random direction and limped down the aisle. After he worked out that the aisles formed a simple grid, he picked an open unit near a corner and dropped to his knees inside of it.

His soles were sore and sticky. He twisted to see them, but he couldn't aim the flashlight accurately without his hands. He did manage to catch sight of the red smears he'd left behind.

Make it fun...

He had no illusions of escape. Sick with pain and blurry from lack of proper sleep, he knew he wouldn't get far before it caught him. When it caught him it would probably break both his legs. If it couldn't trust him with his legs, it couldn't let him use them, could it? He crossed his arms over his face.

Make it fun.

He shoved the flashlight into a corner and struggled to his knees. Crawling would make him slower, but it wouldn't leave tracks. Hopefully that would be enough fun for the lunatic. Ryou edged around the corner into the darkness, straining his ears for the sound of footsteps. With silence ringing in his ears, he felt along the walls between the aisles until he reached what he believed to be the farthest corner from the stairs. He found an open unit in the last aisle and tucked himself inside to rest and wait.

"You sneaky little thing," it laughed suddenly. Loudly.

Ryou covered his mouth with his elbow to dampen the startled hitch in his breath. Things were quiet for a while, and then he thought he spotted a hint of light in the dark. Very faint. He wouldn't have seen it at all without the contrast of the surrounding pitch. But the beam got brighter as it moved down the hall that ran perpendicular to the aisles. Ryou struggled to his feet and limped down the aisle away from the oncoming light. He didn't know how long it wanted the game to last, but he had a feeling the dark being would be upset if he didn't try his best. Slipping around the corner at the end, he crouched and listened. Nothing.

He edged from wall to wall, listening carefully as he passed each row of doors. As he neared the exit to the stairs, a pair of violet lights lunged out of the void. A heavy form struck him in the chest and drove him onto his back.

"Found you!" It announced from its perch on top of him. Then it laughed. "I'll have to bloody up your legs next time."

Something sharp and cold dug into Ryou's lower lip. A bead of warm liquid swelled and broke into a river across the valley of his mouth. An unexpected tongue darted through it. Cringing, Ryou turned his face away. The dark being on top of him didn't seem to care. It simply attacked his neck instead, mostly biting, occasionally licking and sucking. It clawed at the thin chest, opening old wounds so it could taste those too. Nails raked down his sides, his hips, his thighs to his knees. Teeth scraped across his cheek, but couldn't find enough purchase to break the alabaster skin. The box cutter scraped across his cheek with more productive results.

Ryou whimpered. It had felt weird and violating the first time it did something like this. Feeling its form pressing him into the floor with every inch of his bare skin made it worse. But the violent... affection?... Maybe 'not-hate' was more accurate? Whatever this was, it was better than the violent rage...

"Are you a difficult little thing?" It breathed, inches from Ryou's face.

"No," Ryou whispered, tasting the blood on his lips as he finally spoke. The fear remained, but there was also a resigned sincerity in his voice.

Growling contentedly, it slid down his body to gnaw at his ribs. Ryou gritted his teeth and let it happen.


	7. Chapter 7

The mad spirit had left Ryou free to roam about his box, but he didn't even feel like it anymore. He managed to make a pillow out of his school bag and books. It wasn't much, but it was more comfortable than the floor. Then he lay spread eagle, staring at the only piece of ceiling he could see with the flashlight beam. His stomach grumbled. His keeper's sporadic feeding schedule didn't help Ryou's energy level. He'd found a last candy bar in the pile of stuff from his bag, but he couldn't get it open without the use of his hands. All he could do was wait for the dark being to return. So he drifted in and out of consciousness and waited. And waited. And waited.

Everything was dark... still? Again? Probably again... Everything was dark again when the shutter thundered open. Ryou sat up immediately, hoping it was coming to feed him. Dark hands gripped the sides of Ryou's head and drew him to his feet.

"Little thing," it said as it pressed their foreheads together. Then it hooked its arm through Ryou's and led him into the hall.

Flexing his feet irritated the scabs on his soles, but they felt better than they did when the wounds were fresh. He sucked on his scabbed lip for courage and then stammered, "Um...?"

"Hm?" It looked down at him.

"I'm... hungry?" He murmured, hunching his shoulders and hiding behind his matted hair.

"I was gone a while, wasn't I?" Its free hand patted Ryou on the head. "Be a good little thing. I need to test something first."

Ryou frowned. Hopefully it wouldn't take long. He clung more tightly to the bare, muscular arm as they mounted the stairs. As terrified as he was of the individual walking next to him, he was more afraid of falling down the steps in the dark.

He knew exactly where it was leading him. They'd walked this path before. The thing he didn't expect-the thing that caused him to freeze until a tug on his arm urged him forward-was the muffled screaming that filled the the bathroom as they stepped through the door. Ryou's eyes widened with alarm and he looked to the dark being for an explanation. From what he could see and feel, the dark being was completely unfazed.

It took Ryou by the upper arms and pressed his back up against a wall. "You stand here," it said.

Then it moved away and Ryou heard a soft thump. A groaned huff interrupted the vitriolic shouts.

"You shut up," the dark spirit said. There was a dragging sound and then a body hit the wall next to Ryou. "And stand here."

"What's happening?" Ryou asked with an edge of panic. He looked sideways, straining his eyes to see what or who stood beside him. He had a feeling the person next to him was trying to do the same thing. The mad spirit simply stood back and scrutinized them.

"Calm down, little thing." It sounded amused.

A hand gripped Ryou chin and he heard the muffled voice cry out angrily.

"I'm never going to be able to match your beautiful skin, little thing," the mad spirit said. "Exsanguination might help with the paleness a little, though. It will have to do."

The voice next to Ryou screamed in fear this time.

"Wait!" Ryou pleaded, recoiling as much as he dared without getting in trouble. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."

There was a wet _shunk_ sound followed by a gurgled cry of pain. Ryou crossed his arms over his face, shuddering at the scuffle happening less than a foot away. Not too long after the last scream, there was a dull _thump_ and a dragging sounded. He heard a louder thump and a grunt that sounded like the mad spirit slinging something heavy across the top of a toilet stall. Ryou slumped to the floor as the dripping sounds started. Who had it killed? Why had it wanted him here?

The mad spirit made a pleased sound and returned to the young man huddling against the wall. Sticky hands grabbed Ryou's upper arms and lifted him to his feet. Ryou gagged. It tilted its head and wiped a finger across his throat. The glimmering eyes widened and brightened.

"I could finger paint you," it mused breathlessly. Then it laughed. "My beautiful blank little thing. Full of surprises."

Ryou didn't feel very blank any more. Most of his skin pulled and stung when he moved. But above all of that, the thought of it covering him in someone else's blood made him sick. Almost sick enough to destroy his appetite despite his hunger.

The bloodied hands squeezed the sides of Ryou's head. "I'll feed you first." It picked him up and set him on the counter. "Don't do anything upsetting." A tongue darted across Ryou's throat, and then the dark being left him alone.

He hugged his knees to his chest, listening to the _spack, spack, spack_ of blood falling on tile. Ryou's chest heaved. If it was going to kill him, it would have done it by now. It wasn't going to kill him if he didn't give it a reason. He wouldn't give it a reason...

It returned carrying several things-flashlight, water, candy bar, the stained remains of Ryou's shirt. The young man was very careful not to look in the direction of the dripping sound as the darkness receded a bit. Instead he watched the red-streaked hands tear and peel back the wrapper. He almost gagged on the coppery smell of those hands as it fed and watered him, but complaints might be upsetting, so he held his breath instead.

When it finished, it picked him up and brought him to the floor. Ryou's eyes widened as they caught a glimpse of the dark puddle growing across the floor of a stall.

"Too bad about your hands," the mad spirit mused as it laid Ryou out on his belly. "We could have turned this into a game."

Ryou crossed his arms under his face, careful as always about where he put his aching hands. He was getting better at being mindful of them. The mad spirit cleaned his back and thighs, but Ryou couldn't enjoy it knowing what would happen next. At least it wouldn't hurt. Right? He glanced sideways as the heavy form settled on top of him. The red puddle was at eye level and he watched with shocked fascination as a long-nailed finger dragged languidly through it. It had Marik's graceful hands, he realized in a distant way. A thing so charged with raw brutality shouldn't have hands like that.

His shoulders tensed and his neck arched when he felt the cold sliminess glide across his flesh. The chill made it worse. Blood should be warm. Cold blood was dead blood starting to rot and congeal. Ryou hid his face and tried not to vomit as it pressed both of its hands into the puddle, shook of the excess, and pressed its palms to his shoulder blades.

"Now we both have wings," it chuckled.

The slick fingers glided and circled and danced across his back. The liquid pitterpatter to Ryou's left slowed from a steady drip to an occasional tap. His nose adjusted to the smell after a while, which helped him keep the food he desperately needed securely in his stomach. The blood dried, causing parts of his back to feel tight and itchy.

The mad spirit hummed and sighed softly as it worked its masterpiece from Ryou's neck, to waist, to butt, to thighs. Sometimes it would huff and wipe at the white skin with a corner of the shirt before continuing to paint. Sometimes it would stop and give its canvas a long, hard stare. Ryou kept hoping that meant it was finished, but the dark being didn't stop until the puddle dried up.

It sat back on Ryou's calves and hummed with satisfaction. Then it stood up and held out a hand. Ryou got to his knees and let it draw him to his feet by his forearm. It shone the light on his back and gestured with a sharp jerk of its chin. "Look." The dark being looked so pleased with itself.

Ryou didn't want to look, but he could almost make out the form folded unceremoniously across the top of the cubical divider in the shadows behind the mad spirit. So he turned his head slowly until he caught his own gaze in the cracked mirrors above the sinks. Crude sketches of gods and hieroglyphs integrated into the gradient of fresh and old bruises blossoming across his flesh. He stared blankly at his damaged body, mentally and physically frozen. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do?

It laughed. "Speechless, little thing? That's okay. Your flesh takes my breath away, too." One of the bizarrely graceful hands caught Ryou's chin. A sharp thumbnail sliced across his bottom lip, tugging at the old wound until it cracked and wept.

A whimper vacated Ryou's throat as it caught his lower lip between its teeth and sucked at the wound. It didn't bite down hard, but it didn't have to. The young man was already shuddering at the implications of its increasingly bold physical contact. He could live with the biting and scratching and licking, but the thought of it crossing any more lines terrified him. Especially because the thought of trying to _stop_ it from crossing any more lines somehow terrified him _more_. He had to keep it happy. He _needed_ to.

As it broke contact with Ryou's mouth, its head flopped back and it growled. "I've already spent too much time playing, I have work to do." Violet eyes slipped half closed and the corners of its mouth pulled up just a bit as it pressed their faces together. "I'll paint with you forever, little thing. No one is going to change that. You'll see."

Ryou swallowed hard, but he knew better than to say anything by now. He simply nodded.


	8. Interlude

_I heard you were looking for abandoned storage buildings to explore. You aren't in the Rook City area are you?_

 **Sort of. Why? Do you have a recommendation?**

 _Just a heads up I guess. There's a big Max Storage building that went out of business when the city went to shit but you should watch yourself going there. That shit might be haunted._

 **What do you mean haunted?**

 _Three people went in there maybe a year ago and two of them came out babbling about some monster with glowing eyes. I think it was just some crazy bum. This is Rook City we're talking about. Still even the crackheads stay away from that building now. You know to be cautious when the crackheads are scared._

 **Did they report anything to the cops?**

 _What the group? They weren't supposed to be there in the first place. That's a risk you take in this hobby. They covered their shit up. If you're talking about the crackheads druggies and bums disappear in Rook City all the time. Cops don't give a shit._

 **Huh. Thanks for the warning. If I ever find myself in that area, I'll be careful.**


	9. Chapter 9

"Bakura! Bakura!" Marik bounded into the bedroom and pounced on the mattress. He grabbed the muscular shoulders and shook them hard. "I think I found him! I found him!"

Gray eyes shot open and Bakura pushed himself into a sitting position. He'd considered picking a new name, but he liked the way his current name sounded in Marik's mouth. He also hadn't thought he'd need to see his old landlord again... "Where?"

The dark circles around the lavender eyes contrasted sharply with the lively gleam of Marik's excitement. "Rook City! Come on, we have to go!" He grabbed Bakura's arm and tugged as he slid off the bed.

Bakura let Marik pull him to his feet. "What's the plan?"

"Plan?" Marik turned, wearing a flustered expression. "We go get him! We go in there, kick his psycho ass, and bring Ryou home!" He threw his arms out wide. "It's two on one, how hard could it be?"

Bakura put his hands on Marik's shoulders as if to stop him from bouncing right through the ceiling. "You've barely slept since he took Ryou. I don't want you doing anything stupid. Wouldn't three or four on one be better?"

"For the last time, no," Marik snapped.

The corner of Bakura's mouth tilted up just a little. "If that's the last time you're going to say 'no,' then I guess it's time to call them."

Marik let out a frustrated growl and knocked Bakura's hands away. "I've told you, we can't call them. We can't let them know you're here."

"You're getting too old to hide your boyfriend from your family like some bratty teenager. If you explain-"

"I can't explain!"

"Why the hell not?"

"Because it's my fault that he's here." Marik buried his face in his hands.

"It's your father's fault that he's here," Bakura pointed out with a weary sigh.

"Not like that," Marik shook his head. "When the door opened, I could sense you on the other side. I begged and prayed and pleaded for you to find me before they closed it. I didn't know if you could hear me or if the gods even bothered listening, but I wanted you back so badly..." The tan shoulders shook and the full lips trembled.

Bakura shifted uncomfortably. "Don't- don't start crying on me..."

"I was so happy when you found me. I thought I was the luckiest person in the world. Why do I always cause this shit to happen?" Marik grabbed Bakura's shirt and hid his face in it.

In spite of Marik's usually dramatic energy, he wasn't a dramatic crier. His sobs were soft, mewling hiccups, like a scared child. Bakura hated it when Marik cried.

Bakura cringed. "L-listen, we don't have to call them, but that's no reason to run in blind. What if he sees us before we see him?"

Marik sunk onto Bakura's bed, wiping his eyes as he tried to focus. He knew the ex-thief was right, but he was so sick of the damn thing running around fucking with him and the people in his life. "So we bring weapons. You have knives. I'm sure I could find a bat somewhere..."

Bakura drummed his fingers on his chin. "We need a crowbar." A crowbar would certainly be more useful than a bat. "And you can't go running in wearing a crop top. We need to protect our skin. I'm sure _he_ has knives, too."

Marik played with an earring. "I have my riding jacket. It's not exactly a bullet proof vest, but it's thick and sturdy."

"And none of those restrictive pants, either. You'll need to be able to move." The ex-thief paced and nibbled at his nails. "Wire cutters couldn't hurt. We should at least keep them handy until we know a little more about the place. Sturdy, flexible gloves are important... Maybe head lamps so we can keep our hands free." He paused and looked at the young man sitting on the bed. "How far is Rook City?"

Marik shrugged, feeling slightly better already. At least he had Bakura on his side. "Four hours and some number of minutes."

Bakura nodded slowly. "Better take a pillow, too."

"A pillow?" Marik cocked his head.

"You are going to use the drive to get some sleep if it kills me, Ishtar. Gods know you need it."

Marik gave him a tiny smile that didn't quite reach his watery eyes. "I'll make a list. We can do a quick shopping trip on our way out of town."

Two hours later, Marik bounded out of Bakura's apartment with Bakura huffing and sighing in his wake.


	10. Chapter 10

Bakura drove past the front of the building as slowly as he dared without calling attention to himself. Rook City definitely wasn't the sort of place where average people stopped and got out on random corners. He could've sworn he'd seen a prostitute climb into the front seat of a police car a few blocks back. Fortunately Bakura's car was a cheap pile of scrap that had barely cost more than his rent. If they'd been on Marik's glossy Suzuki they might have had more than Marik's evil twin to worry about. He vaguely wished he could've convinced Marik to ditch the gold bangles, but Marik had pointed out that they might protect his arms if it came down to a knife fight and promised to keep his sleeves pulled down.

At least three sides of the lot were surrounded by a chain link fence with plastic panels that made it hard to see inside. The back of the lot was hidden by a row of defunct buildings that might have been a strip mall a long time ago. As Bakura cased the area, he decided if Marik's worse half was staying here it must be coming and going from the alleys between those buildings. One looked wide enough to drive a car through. Keeping an eye out for anyone following them, he drove several feet into the alley and stopped the car.

He didn't even need to shake Marik awake. He was up and leaning between the front seats as soon as the engine shut off. "Are we there?"

"I think so." Bakura reached under the passenger seat and pulled out two switch blades. He secured them to his forearms and pulled his sleeves down over them. Two more each went in one sock. "I need to check ahead. Mind the car."

Marik frowned, but he watched Bakura exit the car and approach the fence at the end of the alley without commenting. Sometimes the other man's bossiness grated on him, but he was too happy that he wasn't doing this alone to really care. They'd both done bad shit. Bakura didn't judge him, silently or otherwise. Marik needed that. Things had never been quite the same with his siblings since he'd tried to kill everyone.

He wasn't like Ryou or Bakura, manipulated by the machinations of Zorc. He'd created his own monstrous tulpa, and then he'd let that monster confuse and manipulate him. He had done so much damage from the cage of Marik's mind that Marik was terrified of what a physical manifestation could have done to sweet, soft, eager-to-please Ryou in even just the two weeks he'd had him. Marik wanted to get in there now, now, now! So maybe it was a good thing he had Bakura to put on the brakes and force him to think.

Bakura approached the plastic panel with light steps. He could tell from a distance that it didn't sit like the ones attached to the fence in front. Testing it, he found the corners secured to the flanking posts by hastily twisted bits of wire. He stretched to reach the cross bar at the top and hoisted himself up to peak over. He found the crumbling remains of a weedy parking lot. Some of the building's windows were missing boards, but the interior was too dark to see much. The rear entrance appeared accessible, but they'd have to cross a stretch of open space to reach it. There was also a whole section of chain link removed from the space behind the plastic panel, maybe large enough to drive through if he moved it. He pressed his lips together and returned to the car.

He opened the driver's door and slid behind the wheel, closing the door for safety. Better to be caught ready to book it than bending over talking to Marik. Pale fingers drummed on the steering wheel. "Didn't Ryou say it brought him here in a van?"

"I think so," Marik said.

Bakura nodded slowly. "I didn't see a van. Would it have the presence of mind to hide something like that?"

"He was never stupid, but..." Marik forced an optimistic smile. "We can hope he went out for something and left Ryou all alone in there."

Bakura snorted. "You aren't nearly that lucky, Marik." He had to assume that Marik's demon was in there. So what next? Wait a couple hours for the sun to set so that they could sneak across the parking lot under the cover of night, or go in now so that they didn't have to rely so heavily on their flashlights to see? Did it sleep?

"You spend way too much time thinking, Bakura," Marik groused. "Let's go already!"

The longer they sat out here, the more likely they were to attract trouble. Bakura sighed. "Fine. But don't be reckless _._ "

Marik exited the vehicle and opened the trunk. He zipped his leather jacket and hooked his flashlight onto a chest pocket. They'd gotten a small backpack that fit close to his back so he could squeeze through tight spaces without getting stuck. He gripped the crowbar with both hands. He'd wanted to smash his tulpa's stupid, grinning teeth out for a long time. Not so easy when it was part of him. Now he actually could.

Bakura sheathed a large hunting knife at his lower back and hid it under his clothes. Then he tied his silver mane in a low ponytail that he tucked in the back of his shirt. He chose not to wear a backpack at all. He didn't want anything to get in the way of reaching for his weapon. He double checked that the bags of sand in his pockets were easily accessible. It was one of his favorite tricks when it came to dirty fighting. Tucking in the front of his shirt, he clipped his flashlight to his belt.

The pair approached the fence together. Bakura held out his hand. "Wire cutters."

Marik reached behind himself, fumbled in the front pocket of the bag, and passed the tool off to Bakura. The ex-thief popped the lower right corner of the plastic sheet free and pulled it back. Staying low, he peered through the gap to search the windows one more time. Still nothing. The rear entrance had an overhang that would offer partial cover if they could reach it. "Move fast."

Watching over Bakura's shoulder, Marik nodded. The two ran across the parking lot and flattened themselves against the wall on either side of the door. They paused and listened. Nothing. Marik readied the crowbar for a swing. Bakura tested the door. It popped open with a soft squeal.

Light flooded the inner lobby. To the left, a large empty room sprawled behind a broken glass door. The shadows were thick, but Bakura didn't see any shadows that looked solid. Across from them, a broken, powerless elevator next to a short hall with at least two more doors that they could see before it disappeared around the corner. To the right, a stairwell with a missing door.

The last Marik had heard, the monster was holding Ryou hostage on one of the upper floors. Bakura tiptoed toward the stairs. Marik moved back-to-back with him, watching the other doors. The pool of light at Bakura's feet illuminated something dark and crusty at the foot of the steps. Bloody footprints. Old bloody footprints. Bakura traced them up the stairs with the flashlight. He elbowed Marik lightly in the ribs and pointed up. Marik bit his lip and they both ascended.

The amount of blood that it must have taken to make tracks like this alarmed Marik. He tried to read his companion's expression through the shadows, but Bakura seemed as stony and solemn as ever. Alert, yes, but otherwise calm. Marik took a deep breath and forced himself to stay focused on his environment. As much as he wanted to seek reassurance from Bakura, he didn't dare make any unnecessary noises.

The prints crossed the threshold of another broken door. The space beyond was much darker than Marik would have liked. Some of the units were closed, like the lids of sleeping giants. Others gaped open like hungry mouths. The aisles themselves were only wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side.

As they stared down the claustrophobic hall, Bakura paused and squeezed Marik's arm. When he felt the tensed muscles unbunch, he proceeded forward. They checked each open unit carefully as they passed, but they seemed to be alone. An oddly familiar smell hung in the air, mingled with the cool, dry dustiness of the place. It was sour. Sharp. Sulfury?

 _Rot_ , Bakura thought. _Rotting meat._

He caught a glimpse of Marik's face as Marik slipped ahead. Apparently he'd recognized the smell, too, and he wore his worry plain as day. Bakura picked up the pace, trying to keep Marik in his line of sight as he continued checking possible hiding places for an attacker.

Marik and the footprints stopped outside a closed shutter. The blond knelt down to examine the device caught in his flashlight beam. Ryou's phone, or at least the smashed remains of it. The smell. It was much stronger here. Guilt, hate, denial, and desperation clogged his throat until he couldn't breath. He grabbed the handle and ripped the door open.

The metallic rumble bounded from wall to wall. Bakura flinched and drew a knife from his sleeve. His head darted left and right, trying to watch both ends of the aisle at the same time.

The smell punched Marik right in the gut. He covered his nose with his elbow and squinted inside. The flashlight beam found a familiar blue sneaker. Jeans and a t-shirt that would've been familiar if they weren't shredded and bloody. A pale hand protruding from a pile of Ryou's school books.

"Ryou!" Marik choked.

Bakura tried to grab Marik's backpack, but his fingers closed on empty air.

Marik dropped to his knees by the body and swept away the food wrappers, bottles, and notebooks. His eyes stung, but it wasn't because of the smell. He would pay for this! He would pay for throwing Ryou out in a pile of trash! In his flurry of emotion, he didn't register that the last piece of paper was duct taped to Ryou's face until he failed to remove it on his first attempt. He blinked back tears, focusing on what appeared to be writing.

 _I wish I could be there to see the look on your face, little thing. Your powerless rage always made me laugh. I couldn't resist one more little prank._

Marik focused on the body again. The blood-matted hair surrounding the head was platinum blond, closer to Marik's shade than Ryou's snowy white. Wrinkling his brow, he kept reading.

 _Tell the thief I'm actually quite thrilled with the exchange. Turns out he had the most delicious of all you little things this whole time. If he agrees not to follow us, I'm more than willing to let both of you go. If either of you insist on hunting us down, there will be a lot more death in your future._

 _Goodbye, little thing._

Tanned hands ripped the paper free. Lavender eyes scanned the message again, and again, and again, and... "Bakura..."

They'd already made so much noise that Bakura decided there was no point in staying silent. "What?" He didn't turn around, maintaining his defensive vigil.

"We're too- too late..."

Bakura hazarded half a glance over his shoulder. "Is that...?"

"They left. He took him again..."


	11. Chapter 11

Bakura frowned and finally turned around. "What?"

Marik shook, studying the words on the paper as though they could tell him something, anything, about where his tulpa had taken Ryou _now._ But there was nothing. He'd been too slow. Curse that fucking thing!

A white hand dropped into his field of vision, the same color as Ryou's but very distinctly different. It gripped the top of the note and tugged gently until Marik's fists relinquished their hold.

With nothing but a stern purse of his lips, Bakura scrutinized the message. The whole situation had caught him by surprise; from the moment Marik had turned away from the phone, fixed him with his wide lavender eyes, and asked if anyone had followed him, to this moment staring at a bloody, crumpled note. He didn't like being surprised. Being surprised meant he'd lost control.

He remembered waking up in the sand somewhere underground. He remembered cold, dead Millennium Items scattered around him. He remembered the former bearer of the Scales and the Key standing over him, now a translucent specter. He remembered feeling heavy and confused as the man demanded to know his intentions. He remembered waiting to taste the acrid hate rising in his throat.

He'd opened his mouth, ready to spit the familiar vitriol he'd been spitting for thousands of years, but had only uttered one breathless word. A name that summed up the emptiness and longing in his heart. _Marik._

The man had crossed his arms and lowered his head. _Very well._

Then Bakura remembered being alone, both physically and, for the first time in thousands of years, mentally. The calm clarity afforded by the quieting of the screams in his head. Finding his way out of the collapsed tomb. Finally making it back to civilization only to discover that Marik had left. Doing whatever he could to make it to Marik's door. Throwing his arms around the sobbing blond, but refusing to cry himself. Settling into his own life in a city just far enough away to avoid the people Ryou knew, purged of the shadows, a patchwork of the thief the world forgot at the boy the world overlooked, determined to leave the past where it belonged and embrace the second chance Marik had given him.

Had this thing been hunting him all this time? Consumed by the rage of some possessive, murderous delusion?

The door slammed shut.

Bakura whipped around and raised his knife in time to catch a glimpse of legs and feet as the gap closed.

Marik dove for the door and yanked at the handle, but it wouldn't budge. He heard a familiar laugh on the other side. Growling, he threw his shoulder against the shutter. "Open the fucking door!"

The mad spirit laughed harder. "Are you scared, little thing?"

"I hate you too much! I'm done being scared! But if I have to break out of here to kick your ass, you'll sure be!"

It sounded positively delighted. "Listen to you, little thing. At this rate we'll wind up with two of me."

Marik clenched his jaw, his fists, his shoulders, everything. Every muscle vibrated with tension. "Fuck you! Just... fuck you!" He moved to ram the door again, but came up short when Bakura grabbed the backpack.

After making sure Marik wouldn't injure himself, Bakura called out, "Where's Ryou?"

"And the thief," the mad spirit cooed. Then it chuckled. "For a moment there, I was worried nothing would convince you to step inside."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Why all the drama to trap us here when you could have simply left?"

It let out a short, sharp bark. "If you honestly thought I would let the man known for holding thousand-year grudges continue... _walking around_ , I'm very disappointed."

"So you're going to kill us?" Marik crossed his arms. "Go ahead and come in here. See what happens."

"Actually," the mad spirit answered languidly, "I was thinking I'd leave both of you in there to starve to death."

Marik's shoulders slumped slightly. He hadn't thought of that. He opened his mouth to retort, but Bakura covered it. Marik glared at his companion. Bakura only closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.

"Nothing to say to that, little thing?" The mad spirit jeered.

"Afraid not," Bakura sighed. "It seems you have us over a barrel on this one."

There was a pause. "You're screwing with me." The voice had gone dangerously flat.

"What makes you say that?" Bakura asked.

"You've never been the type that rolls over and accepts defeat."

"I've never been the sort to beg for my life, either. If that's what you're waiting for, you'll be waiting a long time," Bakura said.

It snarled and punched the door. "I don't give a fuck what you do! Just rot!" Its frustrated growling faded as it stormed away.

Bakura waited a bit, holding his breath and keeping his hand over Marik's mouth. Surprisingly enough, Marik didn't offer a single protest. Once the ex-thief decided that the thing was truly gone, he let Marik go.

"So, Bakura, what are you _really_ thinking?" Marik whispered. He pinched his nose and frowned at the body in the corner. With what little ventilation they'd had cut off, the smell was starting to make him a bit woozy. The stench would probably kill him before starvation. Not that he expected to be in here that long. He knew Bakura wasn't giving up.

Bakura didn't bother answering. He pulled the neck of his shirt over his nose and mouth. Then he scanned the floor with the flashlight until he found the crowbar. He wedged it under the shutter and pressed. The door budged maybe half an inch and stopped. Bakura sat back on his heals and drummed his fingers on his thighs. His eyes found Marik watching him from a couple feet away. "Hold it open."

Marik nodded and obeyed. Bakura got on his hands and knees and searched along the gap for a clasp or an anchor of some sort. Nothing. Huffing behind his makeshift bandanna, he got to his feet and traced the shutter's perimeter with his flashlight. He found what he was looking for on the left side at about waist height. The heads of four bolts. Smooth, rounded, flush with the metal surface. He _thought_ he remembered seeing padlock latches on the closed doors. If he was right, if could get those bolts off, the latch should follow.

Marik took off the backpack and emptied it onto the floor. Med kit, gloves, extra batteries, water, wire cutters, screw drivers, pliers, small bolt cutters, tin snips...

With the foul air burning his throat, Bakura went to work. He used the thinner edge of his hunting knife to work at one of the bolts until he created a gap just wide enough to wedge a flat-head screwdriver under the edge. More determined prying and wiggling loosened it enough to get the bolt cutters around the body. Both hands squeezed.

With the one bolt removed, he paused and flexed his fingers inside the gloves. Marik was stretched out on the ground, trying to breathe through the crack under the door. Bakura didn't blame him. As a tomb robber he'd dealt with corpses in confined spaces, but mummies in dry climates weren't nearly as pungent as the bloated carcass behind him.

Marik rolled on his back and gave Bakura a wry smile. "I was thinking of cutting it into little pieces and sliding them out under the door. Is that desperate or crazy?"

"Both," Bakura snorted.

Marik groaned and rolled onto his side. Bakura wiped his eyes on his sleeve and kept working on the bolts. Some time later, a metallic crash outside made him smile. His companion didn't even bother to open the door the whole way. He lifted it maybe two feet and crawled away gagging. Bakura followed him to the relatively fresh air, though he tried to remain as alert as his overwhelmed senses allowed. He wouldn't let that psychotic thing get the drop on him again.


	12. Chapter 12

They made it to the top of the stairwell without incident. Marik really hoped is alter ego hadn't moved Ryou somewhere else. Leaving would have been the sensible thing, but the tulpa had never been sensible, so Marik had some hope.

They reached the third cavern of storage units and paused to listen. When nothing immediately attacked, Bakura cupped a hand over his flashlight to dim it and moved forward. Marik followed, much more careful now that he knew they weren't alone. A faint noise reached Bakura's ears and he held up a hand to stop his companion.

A voice, unintelligible, but undeniably their adversary. The tone was conversational, maybe amused. Bakura shuffled forward, taking slow, light steps. As they drew closer, he discerned more actual words.

"... face?" A pause. "Sad? No, no... crying... Tears? Haha! Yes, I knew it! My turn!"

The two infiltrators covered their flashlights entirely and edged closer. As they neared one of the rows, they picked a dim light out of the darkness.

"Come on, little thing, guess." A pause. "So close. Look..."

Holding his breath, Bakura flattened himself against the wall at the end of the row and edged over until he could peer around the corner. A dull, yellow glow emanated from one of the open units. He could see vague shadows moving on the wall. The ex-thief turned to Marik, poked him in the chest, pointed at the ground, and then held a finger to his lips. Marik clutched the crowbar tighter, but he nodded. Bakura edged forward alone.

Closer now, he thought he could hear a soft, raspy voice responding to the mad spirit's words. Ryou. He couldn't tell what his former host was mumbling, but he was glad that he was alive enough to talk. Bakura paused just outside the unit and drew a switchblade. The thing would probably attack him on sight, if it was angry enough. He hoped it would. If it did the logical thing and used Ryou as a human shield, Bakura wasn't sure what he'd do next. He stepped around the corner.

There were three individuals on the floor. The mad spirit and Ryou sat on opposite sides of a body that Bakura was too distracted to identify. Instead his eyes were drawn to the red smears, blotches, and lines decorating Ryou and his kidnapper's bare torsos. They might have been pictures, but he didn't have time to identify those either. Within milliseconds of registering Bakura's presence, the monster was on its feet charging at him.

Ryou shrieked and started sobbing, but Bakura couldn't focus on Ryou right then. He twisted underneath the reaching hands and drove the knife into the tan abs. The thing stumbled past him, but Bakura managed to maintain his grip on the handle. He ripped the blade out at an angle, hoping to cause as much damage as possible.

The mad spirit twisted and fell back against a closed shutter with a loud clang. It clutched the hole its gut, surprised and confused. Bakura drew his second knife from his other sleeve and used the momentum to aim an upward slash at the stunned psycho's torso. It knocked that blow away with its free arm, but Bakura managed to get the other knife under its ribs before it kicked his feet out from under him.

It gripped the knife sticking out if its side and yanked. At that point Bakura made a very unsettling observation. It wasn't bleeding, at least not in the traditional sense. The holes in its flesh steamed or smoked something wispy and black. "Fuck me," Bakura muttered. It raised the knife and came at him. Bakura scrambled back, fumbling with his pockets.

The crowbar hooked around its neck and jerked it backwards. It turned to face the shorter mirror of itself. A hand latched around Marik's neck, but the gold choker kept it from squeezing hard enough to strangle him. Once more, it raised the switchblade, but Bakura jumped on its back before it could strike. The pale arms locked the insane doppleganger in a full nelson and held tight.

"Get Ryou," Bakura hissed.

The mad spirit threw its back against the shutter. Bakura huffed as air evacuated his lungs, but his grip stayed tight.

Marik leaped over the corpse and landed in a crouch next to the shuddering figure. His hands alighted gently on the pale shoulders as he said, "Let's get out of here."

Ryou flinched away and shook his head, crying. "Please... please, don't..."

Marik tried to see Ryou's face, but all he could see was matted hair, bruised arms, and crooked fingers. "Its me, Ryou. Can you walk?"

"He'll be so mad, so, so mad..." Ryou whimpered. "Please..."

"Don't touch my little thing!" The rage construct made a jab for Bakura's shoulder.

Bakura shifted to avoid being impaled, but the moment his grip loosened the monster rammed him against the dent-riddled door. The back of its skull connected with Bakura's nose, getting in a good slam on his head this time as well. His vision swam and he slumped to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Ryou whimpered as he tucked himself into a corner.

"Ryou..." Marik trailed off, at a loss on what to do. Then he cried out as rough fingers tangled in his hair and dragged him backwards over the corpse. Marik crossed his arms over his face as the dark spirit straddled him. The knife bit into leather and glanced off of gold. Marik grabbed his tulpa's wrist with both hands and kneed it in the back, but he couldn't create enough force to dislodge his attacker.

"You always were a stubborn little thing," the rage construct growled. It grabbed Marik's wrists and pinned them above his head. A maniacal glee lit up the inhuman voids of its eyes. "Maybe after I kill the thief, I'll start my own collection. I've got enough boxes for all-"

A combat boot connected with the side of the rage construct's head. It fell sideways as Bakura stumbled to regain his balance. He could taste blood flowing from his nose and he was still a little dizzy. The monster took longer to recover this time, but it was too angry to give up. It lunged for Bakura. Finally ready with a clear shot, Bakura threw a fistful of sand in its face.

It howled as Bakura sidestepped its charge, clutching at its eyes. Marik grabbed its ankle and yanked, bringing it to the ground. Reclaiming the dropped switchblade, Marik mounted his evil twin's back and stabbed it right in the Slifer-shaped scar. More of the dark stuff whisped out.

Bakura stomped over to Ryou, latched an arm around his waist, and yanked him to his feet. The little wail Ryou let out hurt the ex-thief's heart more than it might have in the past, but this wasn't the time to be delicate. Whatever the thing that had followed him back from hell was, he wasn't sure if he could kill it. After three stab wounds, it should have been bleeding out on the floor, not scrabbling blindly and viciously with Marik. He had to get Ryou away from it. "You are coming with us, yadonushi," he ordered.

Ryou seemed to react to the nickname, staring at Bakura with wide, wet eyes. He shook his head rapidly, but he didn't struggle as Bakura pulled him toward the mouth of the storage unit.

The rage construct finally managed to elbow Marik in the jaw and kick itself free. It flailed toward the sound of Ryou's sobbing. Marik followed it and dragged it back.

"You are going to fucking die if it's the last thing I do!" Marik snarled.

It rolled over and clawed at Marik's face, narrowly missing his eyes. Marik tried to stab it in the eye, but in its thrashing and flailing, all he did was take a chunk out of its ear. The severed flesh evaporated away in another puff of darkness.

Lavender eyes widened. "Bakura! The knife! The big one!"

The mad spirit gave one more rage fueled heave and tossed Marik away. It didn't pay him much mind though. It clawed its way across the floor like a slithering shadow, glaring blindly with stormy eyes streaming dark vapor. Its lips pealed back in an impossibly wide snarl. "You can't run from me, thief!"

Ryou collapsed to the floor, cowering behind Bakura's legs.

Marik pounced one last time, grabbing its arms and forcing them back so he could pin them with his knees. "The big knife," he repeated as he caught a fistful of the wild blond hair.

Bakura tossed the hunting knife and Marik snatched it up as soon as it hit the ground. The mad spirit was beyond words, hissing and spitting unintelligible venom. Marik forced its head back to expose its throat, reached across with his right hand, and plunged the knife into the left side of its neck. Dark stuff poured from its mouth like dragon's breath. Closing his eyes and exerting himself, Marik leveraged the handle across to the right, splitting tendons and flesh and spilling more of the black mist. It was painfully frigid on his hand, like the shadow realm had been. He sawed and jabbed and sliced until the head tore free. The mad spirit howled one last time, and then dispersed into the air.

Ryou stared, unblinking, almost catatonic. He didn't move until Bakura guided him to his feet.

"We're leaving, yadonushi," he said in a low voice. "Come on."

Ryou still didn't move, even when Marik took off his jacket and draped it around Ryou's bare shoulders. He just stared over his shoulder as the two led him away.


	13. Epilogue

Night had fallen by the time the trio exited the building. Bakura had insisted on making sure there was nothing personally identifying left in either of the storage units. Ryou clearly needed a hospital. While they hadn't decided what story to tell, Bakura had no interest in being associated with either of the bodies in that place. He tucked the still dazed Ryou into the back seat and straightened up to close the door. His sinuses pulsed. He groaned and leaned against the side of the car, holding his swollen face. At least the bleeding had stopped.

"I think both of you need a doctor," Marik said.

"I'm fine, I just need some Advil and an ice pack," Bakura said. His voice came out thick and stuffy. "I think the first aid kit had one of those insta cool thingies in it."

"At least let me drive."

Bakura surrendered the keys without argument.

Before he closed the door, Marik squatted down and looked up at Ryou. "What about you? You need anything?"

Ryou stared at his hands. He was shivering. "It couldn't feel anything else..." he murmured, barely audible.

"What?" Marik looked confused.

Ryou started sobbing.

"Hey..." Marik slid in next to Ryou and hugged him carefully. "He's gone. You're safe now. It's going to be okay."

"I want it off, I want it off..." Ryou sobbed.

Marik hesitated. Maybe now wasn't the best time to let a bunch of strangers poke and prod at him. "What about your hands?"

Ryou shook his head and curled into a ball.

"Maybe we should clean him up first," Bakura said from the front, watching with the eye that wasn't obscured by the cold pack. He hoped his nose wasn't too broken, he couldn't afford a hospital visit for it. "This looks bad enough without bringing him in covered in someone else's blood."

Marik frowned at the pathetic figure hiding in his jacket. They'd both noticed the doodles decorating the pale torso on the way down. What the hell had the deranged tulpa been doing with him? "Yeah. There's gotta be a hotel or something around here, right?"

"I think I saw one a few blocks back. Doesn't look like the sort of place that would ask a lot of questions," Bakura said.

Marik got into the driver's seat and followed Bakura's directions. They pulled into the half-empty parking lot, bathed in the flickering red glow of the vacancy sign. Marik stopped as close to the front doors as he could get. "One of us should stay with Ryou," he said.

"I think the guy without the busted face should do the talking," Bakura answered.

"Fair enough." Marik got out and walked through the glass double doors. The reception desk was behind a glass window. The bulky man behind it looked like he didn't need the extra protection, though. Marik placed his hands on the little counter. "One room. One night. How much?"

The man eyed the form-fitting, black tank top and gaudy jewelry. "Haven't seen you around before, honey. You new?"

"Just give me a fucking room. It's been a long night."

"Fine, fine. Forty bucks'll do it."

"For this shit hole? Really?"

"If you wanna get under the desk for ten minutes, I can knock it down to twenty." The grin was yellow and wet.

Marik grimaced and shoved two twenties through the slot under the window.

The man shrugged and stood up. He retrieved a key from a hook on the wall behind him. Before he passed it through he said, "I'm obligated to ask for a name."

Marik frowned. "Namu."

"You've got room ten, 'Namu.' Clean up after yourself. Get out or shell out by 10am. Enjoy your stay." He winked.

Rolling his eyes, Marik grabbed the key and went back outside. Bakura was still in the passenger seat, with his head tilted back and the ice pack covering both of his eyes. Ryou was still curled up in the back with his face hidden in his knees. Marik pulled the car around the back of the long, low building and stopped in front of a door labeled '10.' He hopped out and opened Ryou's door. The albino didn't move until Marik gently gripped his upper arms. "Come on. We'll get you cleaned up."

The wide, brown eyes darted around until they spotted Bakura. They stayed on him as Bakura unlocked the door and Marik guided Ryou inside. Bakura stumbled to the narrow bed and sat on the foot of it with a weary sigh. Marik turned on the bathroom light for Ryou and walked over to check on his boyfriend.

"Lemme see..." He took the hand holding the cold pack and moved it away from Bakura's face. He tried and failed to keep a straight face when he saw the red and purple blotches blossoming across the pale skin.

Bakura smirked, and then winced as trying to draw up the corners of his mouth made his face throb. "How hideously deformed am I?"

Marik smirked back. "Don't worry. I wouldn't kick you out of bed if you wore a mask."

Bakura snorted. "I hear the Phantom look is highly desirable in some circles."

Tan hands cupped pale cheeks. "Thank you, by the way. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be back there with Ryou right now."

The gray eyes rolled away. "Yeah, yeah..."

Marik laughed. Seeing the ex-thief so close to blushing was rare indeed. "I wonder if they have an ice machine around here somewhere."

"You could ask up front," Bakura said.

"Ew. Front desk guy's a creep... " Marik wrinkled his nose. "I'll take my chances on my own." He turned around and saw Ryou standing motionless in the bathroom doorway. Exactly where Marik had left him. He was still staring at Bakura.

Bakura frowned. Seeing Ryou again, without the mad spirit to distract him, was harder than he'd expected. With what shreds of his conscience had survived the millennia, he actually felt bad about the way he'd treated the boy the last few months they'd been together. Bossing him around. Suppressing him mercilessly. Trying to destroy his life. Did Ryou hate him? He didn't see hate in the doe eyes. Confusion. Loss. Patience. Gods, Ryou had had patience and pity to spare. He remembered that. Back then, he'd despised it. The weakness of his pathetic little host.

His hands. Of course. Marik walked over to Ryou and helped him out of the jacket. Then he walked into the bathroom and turned on the water for him. He really hoped Ryou's hands weren't permanently damaged. Ryou loved painting those tiny miniatures. When he turned around, Ryou still hadn't moved.

Bakura sighed, and then decided to try something. Putting on his stern face, he said, "Get in the shower."

The dazed look flickered. Ryou turned and slowly stepped into the tub. Marik raised his eyebrows at his companion.

All he wanted to do was take some painkillers and go to sleep. He was no good at being gentle, anyway. Being emotional was Marik's thing. It didn't look like he was going to get out of it, though. Whatever was going on in Ryou's head, he seemed to have regressed to passive acceptance of his old parasite's will as a defense mechanism. If only he could still hear Ryou's thoughts. "I'll..." Bakura groaned. "I'll make sure he does what he needs to do. Go find me more ice." The chemical reaction keeping the plastic gel pack cold wouldn't last forever.

"You're sure it's okay?" Marik asked. Bakura wasn't always the most sensitive individual.

"Go. It'll be fine." Bakura stood up and took Marik's place in the bathroom as Marik grabbed the ice bucket and left. He stood with his hands on his hips, watching Ryou. His former host stood under the spray, watching the water swirl down the drain. The body that had been so familiar at one time was almost unrecognizable now. Taller. Thinner. Much thinner. Cris-crossed with lines that seemed to form the remnants of various pen and paper games. Bakura took off his shirt, grabbed the cheap complimentary soap off the counter, and sat on the floor. "Come here."

Ryou slowly lowered himself to the floor of the tub. Bakura leaned over the side and scrubbed at his back and arms, working dried blood out of the crevices and creases of the pale skin. There was a long moment of silence. Bakura had so many things that he was sure he should say, but he couldn't decide how to get them out.

"I'm no good at apologizing, you know," he muttered. "I mean, I guess you literally _know_ , don't you?"

No answer. Just staring.

"I'm a lot different now," Bakura went on awkwardly. "In other ways." This would be so much easier if Ryou were pissed at him. At least then he'd know what was going on behind those wide eyes. At least then he'd have something to work with. "I'm... _less_ of an asshole?" It came out as question. Those had been Marik's words at one point, but Bakura was pretty sure he was still an asshole. He stopped scrubbing and crossed his arms on the edge of the tub. "Dammit, Ryou, say _something_."

Tears welled up and splashed down the thin cheeks where they lost themselves in the rest of the water.

"Bloody hell," Bakura muttered. Then louder, "Ryou..."

"It-" Ryou's voice hitched. "It couldn't-" Hitch. "Couldn't..."

" _What_ couldn't _what_?" Bakura pressed, trying to be gentle but probably only reaching neutral.

"Feel. It couldn't..."

"What are you on about?"

"I don't know, I'm confused," Ryou sobbed into his forearms.

"Shit. Don't tell me you pity that thing." Scowling hurt Bakura's face, so he settled for a slight frown.

"No... not exactly..." Ryou swallowed. "I was... terrified of it. All it wanted to do was hurt me, or keep me alive so it could keep hurting me, but... That- that last look on its face..." Ryou started sobbing again. "I was," hitch, "all it h-had, and it looked- looked so angry, and betrayed..."

"You're projecting, Ryou. There was nothing redeemable about that _thing_. It wasn't even a real person. It was the twisted shard of a broken person puppeted by the remains of the Shadow Realm."

Ryou wiped his eyes on the back of his arm. "So were you. That's why its so confusing."

 _Oh, gods..._ Bakura looked out through the open door to make sure the room was still empty, and then turned back to Ryou. He sucked in a deep breath, and said, "I used to be a person. Of my own. I am a fragment of a broken person, but I was preserved by your incomprehensible fucking empathy, and brought back by Marik's incomprehensible fucking love. Shit, you should have both despised me, I don't know what's wrong with you people..."

Ryou almost smiled a little at that.

"The shadows are gone. The only redeemable piece of me is sitting right here looking at you. The only redeemable piece of that loony bastard is wandering around the hotel somewhere looking for ice. So... chill the fuck out, or something."

Then Ryou did smile. "I'm glad you got to stay with Marik. I always sort of hoped you would."

Bakura looked away. "Yeah, well... If you tell Marik I got all gushy, I'll kill you." He smirked at Ryou, even though it hurt his face.

"Tell Marik what?" Ryou smirked back. The smile faded quickly as he looked down at his hands. "I hurt so much, Spirit. Everything hurts so much..." His voice cracked again. "I feel like I'll never be normal again."

Bakura decided it wasn't the time to correct the nomenclature. "We'll help you. I owe you that much." He sat on the lip of the tub and finished rinsing the red crust out of the white hair. Ryou would be okay. He'd make sure of it.

 **A/N: That's all I've got. I'm glad everyone enjoyed this story so much. Thank you for reading.**


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